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The decaying moral priciples in the Great Gatsby
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One of the most prominent motifs in the novel The Great Gatsby is the disillusionment of the American Dream. When the American Dream first surfaced in society, it was based on the ideas of freedom, excellence, and self-reliance. It challenged people to have dreams of spiritual greatness and strive to make them reality. However, over the years, these ideas have warped into purely materialistic values. Many people started to believe that a life of ease, with a fancy car and an extravagant house would bring them fulfillment. Gatsby represents the aspiring American who wishes for something beyond what he has. And yet, in the end, he failed to make his dream a reality due to the fact that he, like a majority of real Americans, misunderstood the true meaning of the American dream. In the novel The Great Gatsby, the story is told from the point of view of Nick, who came from the Midwest to the East Coast. At the beginning, Nick recognized Gatsby’s flaws and scorned his values, but by the end of the novel, Nick finds something heroic and noble in Gatsby’s vision and his extraordinary gift for hope. Gatsby was the son of a family of poor farmers, but he didn’t even consider them as his family at all. All he had to start was his Platonic conception of himself, which he was determined to make reality, and no amount of fire could challenge the fairytale vision he had for his life. He rose to riches, albeit by criminal activities, gaining the title of “new money”. He lived in West Egg, where all the “new money” folks lived, across from white palaces of old moneyed East Egg. Gatsby, ever since meeting Daisy during his time in the military, had envisioned and planned out his life with her in it. He gained a large amount of money, threw large, l... ... middle of paper ... ...ells him that he’s “worth the whole damn bunch,” meaning the rich of East Egg, “put together” (Fitzgerald 162). Nick says this because, even though Gatsby’s story is tainted by criminal activity, he is far more admirable than people like Tom and Daisy. That it’s not wealth or a life of leisure that makes a man great, it is his determination and devotion to both his dreams and the people he cares that makes him great. Money does not bring a person happiness, as seen by both Tom and Daisy, who are unhappy and bored with life. Not only does wealth not make one happy, it also causes a person to be very careless when it comes to the feelings of others. This all shows the disillusionment of the American Dream through Gatsby who tries for that which is very materialistic and doesn’t bring any true happiness while ignoring the qualities that prove the real worth of a person.
Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald criticizes the American dream very elaborately and shows the idea of the American dream to be connected with the goal of achieving wealth. Fitzgerald does not praise wealth in the Great Gatsby but condemns it by drawing attention to the dreadful fall made by Gatsby. Fitzgerald finds the desire of wealth to be a corrupting impact on people. Throughout the novel, the characters with money contradict the idea of the American dream. They are portrayed to be very snobbish and unhappy people. The American dream in the novel is shown to be unachievable. For some time, the American dream has been focused upon material things that will gain people success.
Carraway employs his initial meetings and mentions of Gatsby to establish the non-money related values of Gatsby. For instance, when Nick says Gatsby’s name for the first time in the novel, he narrates, “I wanted the world to be…at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction” (2). Recalling the story from the future, Nick says he wants “moral attention forever,” signifying that he longs for further virtue than was exerted during his stay in the east. With the use of “privileged,” he brings attention to the advantage of wealth and how it connects to the “riotous excursions.” However, Gatsby is “exempt.” Nick does not group him with the others, so Nick must perceive Gatsby as more virtuous than the rest. Similarly, after describing their first meeting, while Nick exalts Gatsby’s smile, he all the sudden says, “precisely at that point it vanished — and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd.” (45). Noticing that Gatsby isn’t really the prosperous image he projects to the residents of the Eggs, Nick can see through Gatsby’s façade. At this point, he is still “elegant” and refined, but now Nick understands that his “elaborate…speech” is more an act than reality. Gatsby continues to appear wealth-obsessed, but at least Nick can recognize that Gatsby’s knows this is not his real
The first example of Gatsby's belief that money can buy his happiness is when Nick Carraway describes the subdivision in which he lives, West Egg. The subdivision across the water is East Egg. The houses are very luxurious to say the least. On the other hand, there is a distinction between the two. The West Egg house are more recently built and are elaborately decorated, where as the houses in East Egg are still as big but very conservative in architecture. The two neighborhoods represent the division in the upper class at this time in America. During the 1920's, the conservative "old rich" despised the "new rich". A good example of an "old rich" family would be the Rockefellers, where as a "new rich" family would be the Kennedys. The East Egg represented the conservative money of the "old rich". For generations their money passed down giving them the belief that the "new rich" with their newly acquired wealth were still lower and not equal to them. The "new rich" liked to display their wealth in lavish ways that the conservative wealthy did not approve. In addition, the "new rich" often did not earn their money in legitimate ways; most earned their money from boot legging. Carraway in an ironic way is neither "new rich" nor "old rich". He lives in a rather modest house compared to Gatsby's huge mansion. Gatsby owns a huge house but is the only person living there besides some servants. Gatsby tries to use the house to win the happiness and respect from others. Another reason for the house is to hide the way in which he really makes his money.
Nick's neighbor Gatsby is a wealthy person, who spends a lot of money giving parties for strangers only to meet Daisy, the dream of his life. He is seen as representing "new money" because he has no good education and no family background over several generations, he is self-made, invented by himself. For this reason, he is not accepted as being dignified enough to enter the exclusive "old money" upper class.
Jordan’s and Gatsby’s memories of Daisy, the piecing together of Gatsby’s actual history and Nick’s reflections on his own life belong to different eras and possibly jumping between these different timelines and impressions and Nick’s present impressions would have been inelegant. Fitzgerald places him in this hard position for a reason, to help him reveal just how befoul the society was becoming. Rather, William Voegeli, a critic of “Gatsby and the pursuit of happiness” shows a different side to this, he states, “Nick rents, Gatsby buys, and the Buchanans inherit,” also stating “”you’re no better than anybody else and no one else is better than you” (William Voegeli 1). Which shown in the novel is not true, Nick is a middle class character compared to the magnificent West Egg class.
Gatsby’s original plan was upward mobility; he wanted to find a life with wealth and luxury that reminded him nothing of his humble beginnings in North Dakota. What sabotaged him was when he went so above and beyond. Gatsby appeared to get very caught up in the lifestyle that he began to lead that he began to lose himself as a human. Even Nick found that Gatsby was little more than “the proprietor of an elaborate road-house next door” (Fitzgerald, 64).
In the book The Great Gatsby it is a tragic story from a first person point of view of a guy named Nick Carraway. Nick describes the life of Gatsby, who is portrayed as a wealthy and powerful man, but as the story unfolds, we see how the wealth and power also run in tandem with Gatsby being in despair and a troubled man. This book is a prime example of the fact on how money and power doesn’t always lead to happiness. Instead it can could lead to being depressed, anxious, and even losing something valuable.
What is the American Dream? Is it fame or fortune? Franklin Roosevelt explained the American Dream as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The American Dream is the idea of becoming successful through work, although, this is not always achievable because people in America are not always treated equally, and not everybody has an equal opportunity to reach the American Dream.
However with the absence of this smile Nick almost comes back to reality as if Gatsby’s smile almost had a hypnotising quality to it. This is shown through the “strong impression” of Gatsby that “he was picking his words with care”. Nick sees the duality of Gatsby; he sees the dreamer and he sees the conformer, (to superficially constructed standards) as demonstrated through his “formality of speech” that “just missed being absurd”. Nick appears to prefer the “dreamer” boyish side of Gatsby, he likes his sense of hope and magic even amidst of the superficial socialites of the fashionable East Egg. Nick loathes the “old money”, such as Tom Buchanan, as these people are generally consumed by self-absorption and lack the ability to feel any real emotion, as shown by Daisy crying over the “beautiful shirts”. Nick shouts out, "You´re worth the whole damn bunch put together." As a method of consolation, and also to remind Gatsby that he is not like the “careless people” of West
In the novel, West Egg represents the newly rich, while east Egg, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. The newly rich are portrayed as being vulgar, showy and lacking in social graces and taste. However, what the old aristocracy possesses in taste, however, it seems to lack in heart, as the East Eggers prove themselves careless and inconsiderate of others. Nevertheless, “Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book”, is an illustration of what dedication and an “extraordinary gift for hope” can erect. Although, his money is made from criminal means, he is shown to be a vibrant character who is sincere, loyal, and has genuine love for Daisy. Everything he has done in life has been done to fulfil his dream, to prove to Daisy that he is worthy of her. And even when his dream is collapsing, and all chances of recovering his past love is gone, Gatsby’s incorruptible dream drives him on. Ironically, then, it is not Gatsby’s bad qualities that lead him to his death, but rather his good qualities of loyalty and determination that lead to his demise, as he takes the blame for killing Myrtle rather than letting Daisy be punished. It is at this point in the novel that Nick, the narrator, realizes that his neighbour was “worth the whole damn bunch put together”. Nick, who is supposedly “inclined to reserve all judgments,” finally makes a conclusive judgment here, calling Daisy, Tom, Jordan, and all the upper class morally rotten. And although Gatsby’s real history, however tainted by criminal enterprise, in facts makes him more admirable by moral standards than the initial impression he gives Nick. During a time that was so entrenched with corruption and restlessness, Gatsby still manages to maintain faith in the virtues of
Building an opinion about it. Gatsby uses Nick to show that people are not yet treated equally, and that social discrimination still exists. Nick on the other hand is also striving for something. He is a pragmatic man who comes from the middle west and does not share the American dream. Unlike Gatsby he wants to be himself, tolerant, objective, and reliable. The money of the upper class is just a tiny bit of the American dream together with his admiration for the rich east Eggers. Mainly nick’s dream of a pursuit of honesty. In chapter 9 he explains that the American dream originally was about discovery, the pursuit of happiness, and individualism. Nick believes that the ability to create an important symbol constitutes a vital component of the dream which is the way early Americans invested their new nation with their own ideas and values. However easy money or relaxed social values have corrupted this ideal dream, mostly on the east coast. As he often says to himself “I am one of the few, honest people that I have ever known.” Throughout the novel Nick finds himself surrounded by lavish mansions, fancy cars, and an endless supply of material possessions. A drawback to the seemingly limitless excess Nick sees in the Buchanans. This for instance, is a throwaway mentality extending past material goods. Nick explains in the great Gatsby, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy— They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made. This quote shows how both Tom and Daisy is frown upon by Nick because of their social status. He began to have a mix of strong reactions to the life on the east coast, which ultimately creates a powerful internal conflict him. This does not get resolved until the end of the novel. Nick
Nick Carraway is the only character worth knowing in The Great Gatsby. He is living in East Egg with the rich and powerful people. He is on the guest lists to all of their parties and yet he is the person most worthy of attending such parties because he is well bread and his family is certainly not poor. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (Ch1, P1). These words were taught to Nick by his father showing the qualities that a man with goals and values would have in a place where goals and values was no existent. His Judgmental eye for character and guts of using them when desired makes him more interesting. He has a greatest fear that he will be all alone by himself.
Contextually, living a life of wealth and extravagant possessions is exactly how many of the characters lived within The Great Gatsby. The aforementioned quote explores Nick Carraway’s awe of Daisy and Tom Buchanan’s home, correlating to how the success of the American Dream is able to provide for an overcompensated and flamboyant lifestyle. Likewise, this materialism is what is used by Jay Gatsby in his fruitful attempt to win over Daisy. Starting from the bottom, he went from rags to riches and reinvented himself (Smiljanić 2011) to guarantee that what ever he did in life was for the benefit of Daisy; however, at the conclusion of the novel, this was worthless, associating to the failures of the American
Gatsby believes that his hard work, and the wealth he earns, will make his less-glamorous past irrelevant. Unfortunately, the old-money people of East Egg, do not accept Gatsby, nor any of the other nouveau riche West-Eggers and their “raw vigor” (114). One of the most obvious examples of this distaste comes from the East Egg “party of three on horseback” (107) (Tom, Mr. Sloane, and the Woman) who come to Gatsby’s house. Whilst visiting, the Woman drunkenly invites Gatsby and Nick to her house for a dinner party. Although Nick immediately declines, Gatsby excitedly plans to go, and disengages from the group to redress. Tom does not believe it Gatsby’s place to attend the old-money party, and says, “My God, I believe the man’s coming”… “Doesn’t he know she doesn’t want him?” (109). The group of three then quickly leaves before Gatsby reemerges, fully intending to hurt him in their action, so as to put him back into his inferior place. The irony in this is that just a few generations previously, families like the Carraways made their fortune with small business like “wholesale hardware business” and had the opportunity to become “prominent, well-to-do”, and respected in their communities (7). Because he made his way up in society, Gatsby is ridiculed by the 1920’s elite, even though many began in very much the same position as him, and gained
The West Egg, where Gatsby and Nick lived, was seen as “the less fashionable” (Fitzgerald) of the two eggs. Even though the West Egg still contained multimillion dollar mansions since the residents were regarded as “new money” they did not have the same respectability as those who lived in the East Egg which was seen as the “old money.” Both are in the same class but came to the money in different ways, “new money” is new to the wealth and recently obtained it, while “old money” were those who had it in their families for a long time. This leads them to handling their money and relationships differently. The newly rich are portrayed as being “vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste.” (Avery) Gatsby tries to impress others with his money, which lacks class. He drives a fancy car, a Rolls-Royce, has a monstrous mansion by himself, and throws parties non-stop to impress people, and to try to lour Daisy back to him. The old money, people of East Egg, handle their wealth with more maturity, but they then become so used to easing people with the value of their money that they lack consideration for others feelings. Daisy and Tom describe this selfishness. Neither are ever satisfied, and cheat on one another as a result, and they lack consideration for anyone else, they just leave messes for others to clean up. Although new money is less